Acoustical ceiling



April 16, 1935. c. s. STROM ACOUSTICAL CEILING Filed Aug. 31, 1932INVENTOR CARL 5.5TF2OM. BY

' AT ToRNE V Patented Apr. 16, 1935 UNITED STATES ACOUSTICAL CEILINGCarl S. Strom, Chicago, Ill., assig'nor to United States Gypsum Company,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August 31, 1932,Serial No. 631,243 12 Claims. (Cl. 189-88) This invention relates tobuilding constructions, and has reference more particularly to ceilingconstructions in which perforated metal membranes are backed by soundabsorbing ma- 5 terials for. the purpose of absorbing sound andcorrecting the acoustics in a room.

In the construction of acoustical ceilings in buildings of the typeemploying perforated metal membranes backed by sound absorbing fiberpads, it is desirable to have the erection operation as simple aspossible in order to reduce the cost thereof. The perforated metalmembranes are preferably attached to supporting structural members bymeans of resilient clips or latches. It is desirable that these latchesbe not attached directly to the inside face of the membrane since someof the perforations will be covered up by such clips so as to be visiblefrom below and present an unsightly appearance.

An object of this invention, therefore, .is to pro vide an acousticalceiling construction in which convenientnmeans are arranged to attachthe acoustical pad and perforated metal membrane to the ceiling. v

Another object of the invention is to provide an attaching clip for themetal membrane which is spaced apart from the membrane so as to avoid anunsightly appearance on the face of the membrane when viewed from below;also. to improve building constructions in other respects hereinafterspecified and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective, sectional view ofone of the perforated membranes and attaching clip,

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through the membrane taken on line 2-2of Fig. 1, v

Fig. 3 is a perspective sectional view of a modified form of attachingclip and membrane,

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation through a further modified form ofacoustical ceiling construction,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the modified form of membraneshown in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation through the membrane taken on-line 6-6of Fig. 4.

In constructing the acoustical ceiling, a return bent hanger I isattached to the ceiling surface II in any suitable way, such as by nailsl2 The hanger ID has downwardly extending'legs 13 terminating inoppositely disposed hooks I4 which are arranged to embrace opposite,upper flanges of a structural rail 16 which is H-shaped in crosssection, or is in any other desired shape,

and is provided with outstanding lower flanges II; The rail I6 ispreferably composed of two channel strips with their webs spotweldedtogether in back to back position. In order to clamp the two legs l3 ofhanger l0 together with hooks I4 embracing the flanges IS, a pluralityof bars l9 are provided on their ends with hooks 20 which embrace thelegs l3 and clamp them together. An acoustical pad 22 of mineral wool,hair felt or other suitable sound absorbing material is supported uponthe bars IS.

A sheet metal membrane 24 is supported below the rail flanges I! in amanner to be hereinafter described, and is provided with triangularperforations 25 which may be of any other desired shape such as round,square, elliptical, etc. The edges of the membrane 24, which ispreferably square but may be any other desired shape, are formed withbevels 26 which terminate in outwardly extending flanges 21. In order tosupport the membrane, a rectangular plate 28 has inwardly extendingflanges 29 formed along two adjacent edges thereof, and said flanges 29are spotwelded to the inside of the membrane flanges 21 by spot welds30. An oflfset strap 3| is struck from the metal of the plate 28, and anoutwardly extending flange 32 formed on an attaching clip 33, is forcedinto the space between the strap 3| and the plate 28 so as to securesaid clip 33 to said plate 28. An aperture 35 is formed in the clip 33and an inclined cam surface 36 extends a downwardly from the top of saidclip 33, said cam surface being provided with an inwardly'extendinglatching shoulder 31 which terminates in a guide lug 38 which extendsthrough the. aperture 35. As the membrane 24 is moved upwardly duringerection, the cam surface 36 engages the lower edge of the rail flangesI1 and flexes said cam surface 36 'until the latching shoulder 31 seatson top of one of the flanges l1, thus securing the membrane'to thesupporting rail. It will be noted that the plate 28 spaces the flange 32of the clip 33 apart from the inner face of the membrane 24 so that theattaching devices cannot be seen from below after the membranes havebeen erected,'thus providing a smooth, even appearance on the lowerfaces of the membranes.

In the form of device shown in Fig. 3, two up posite membrane flanges 21are formed with inwardly extending plates or extensions 40 which lie inspaced parallel relation with theinner face of the membrane 24. Theseextension plates 40 are made integral with the flanges 21 so as to avoidthe spot-welding operation. An offset strap 4| is struck from the metalof the plate 40, and an attaching clip 42 is provided with anoutstanding flange 43 which seats under the strap 4| so as to connectthe clip 42 to the plate 40. The clip 42 is provided with an aperture44, and is also provided with a resilient loop 45 which terminates in anoutwardly extending latching lug 46' which extends through said aperture44. A 'c'arn edge 41 is formed on the latching lug 46, and a latchingshoulder 48 is also formed on said lug 46. An outstanding guide flange49 is formed on the clip 42 to guide the movement of the resilient loop45 as the membrane is moved upwardly into position during erection. Inthe form of the device shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the construction issubstantially the same as that shown in Fig. 3 except that plate 40a hasan offset section 5| to which the attaching clip is connected, thisoffsetting of the plate 40a reducing the overall height of the membraneconstruction and permitting close contact of the plate and flange 21with the underside of supporting flange I1.

I would state in conclusion, that while the illustrated examplesconstitute practical embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to limitmyself precisely to these details, since manifestly, the same may beconsiderably varied without departing from the spirit of the inventionas defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. An acoustical ceiling construction comprising a plurality of spaced,parallel supports adjacent a. building surface, perforated, sheetmembranes below said supports, upturned sides on said membranes,separate clips associated with extensions on the sides of the membranes,said clips having resilient means adapted to snap into engagement withsaid supports, and sound absorbing means between said building surfaceand said membranes.

2. An acoustical ceiling construction comprising a plurality of spaced,parallel supports adjacent a building surface, metallic sheet membranesbelow said supports, integral, spaced extensions at the edges of saidmembranes, separate clips associated with said extensions and adapted tosnap into engagement with said supports, sound absorbing means betweensaid building surface and said membranes, said membranes being providedwith a plurality of perforations adapted to permit sound waves to travelthrough said membranes to be absorbed by said absorbing means.

3. In metallic membrane, building construction, spaced supports,perforated, sheet membranes adapted to form the exposed surface of saidconstruction, fiat, plate-like means on the edges of said membranesextending substantially parallel to' said membranes and adapted tosupport clips in spaced relation to said perforated membranes, and clipson said means, said clips being adapted for snapping engagement withsaid supports.

4. A building surface characterized by being fireproof, easily washable,and aesthetically pleasing, said surface comprising perforated, metallicmembranes having resilient clips secured inplace on flat, plate-likeintegral extensions extending substantially parallel and in spacedrelation to said membranes, said clips adapting said membranes to besnapped into place against metallic support means.

5. A perforated membrane unit for building structures, comprising aplanular face, a side extension plate on said membrane, extendingsubstantially parallel to said membrane and in spaced relation thereto,and a resilient clip associated with said plate, said clip beingadaptedfor snapping engagement with a building support.

6. In a perforated, metallic unit for building structures, a planularface blank, the edges of said blank being turned up to form sides, aclip support in plate form secured by means of spot welding or the likeat the convergence of two sides, and a clip secured on said support.

7. In a membrane unit for building structures, a perforated, planularblank, an edge of said blank being turned up to form a side, anextension plate formed integral with said side and extendingsubstantially parallel to sa d blank, said extension providing means forsupporting a clip for attaching said unit in place.

8. A clip adapted for securing a membrane unit to supports in a buildingstructure, comprising a body portion, a flange at right angles to saidbody portion for frictional engagement with said unit, a resilientportion formed integral with said body portion and adapted to fiex whenpressed against a support, and means connected with said resilientportion for engaging said support, whereby said unit is retained inplace.

9. In a membrane unit for building structures, a planular blank, anupturned flange on an edge of said blank, a clip base on said flangeextending substantially parallel to said blank, a portion of said basemember being depressed below the top of said flange, and an attachingclip mounted on said depressed portion, said clip being provided withmeans for engaging with a support member to bear said clip base intocontact with the outermost side of said support member.

10. In an attaching clip for structures of the type described, a clipbody adapted to extend perpendicularly to the member being attached, aflange on said clip body for securing the clip to said member, aresilient portion on said clip, said resilient portion having a contactsurface and being adapted to flex when brought into contact with asupport when said member is pushed into place, and a shoulder on saidclip adjacent said contact surface for engaging with said support.

11. In combination in an acoustical building construction, a supportmember, means for securing said support member adjacent a buildingsurface, a perforated membrane unit below said support, an upturned sideon said membrane unit, an. extension formed on said side, and lyingsubstantially parallel to said unit, a resilient clip carried by saidextension, said clip having camlike means adapted to flex when pushedagainst said support, an engagement shoulder to engage with saidsupport, and sound absorbing means interposed betweensaid buildingsurface and said membrane unit for absorbing sound waves travellingthrough said perforated unit.

12. In a building structure, a perforated, metallic membrane, a buildingstructure comprising supports provided with engagement means, and clipsdetachably secured to spaced, inwardly extending, flat plate extensionson the edges of said membrane, said clips having resilient means forsnapping into engagement with said engagement means on said support.

. CARL S. STROM.

